Improvement in ticket-cutters



punchers used by railway-carriage conductors', for the LUTHER ocuooKEaoF BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS.

4Letters Patent No. 95,091, dated September 21, 1869.

i IMPRQVEMENTIN TICKET-CUTTERS.

` The? Schedule referred to in these Letters-Patent and making part of thesame.

To all persoas `to these presents may come Be it known that I, LUTHER O. Gnooknn, of Braintree, of the county of Norfolk, and State of Massachusetts, have made a new and useful iuventicnlhaving reference to Ticket-Gutters or Punchers; and do hereby declare the saine to be fully described in the l following speciioation, and represented in` the accompanying drawings, oflwliicli- Figure l is a side elevation, and Figure 2 an end view of a ticket-cutter or punch, provided with my said invention.

Figure 3 is a top view ofthe clearer, and n Figure 4 is a transverse section of the clearei and themale die or cutter. l

` The invention in question relates particularlyto cancelling or cutting of holes in passage-tickets, the

object of theinvention being to render the puncliers easily operated and very durable.-

In the drawingsl a denotes the upper, and bthe lower jaw, jointed together' at c, and havinghaudles d e, as seen in upon the vfinger when not in direct use, `and between the projection or bend forming this fingerpiece andthe handle e, aspiral spring, It, surrounds the wire,the stress of the spring keeping the handles normally apart, -a's will be .readily understood.

. Now, as usually made, this wire is itself the distendilig-spriiig, it'being fixed at one end to the iliiier .surface of one of the handles, andv bearing at itsother end directly against the inner surface of the other handle. l l v In such application, however, somncli stress comes directly upon the spring that it is liableto soon become broken, thus rendering the instrument useless for the time, or until the spring canbereplaced by the f maker; but by `carrying the end of the wire into the handle, and allowing it to play loosely in or through the saine, and applying the spring h to force apart the handles, no particular stress comes upon the wire,

, and theV liability of the spring-wireto break is entirely overcome. Y

To the jaw a is fixed the die t, having a cuttingface or edge corresponding to the letter or cancellingmark or designation to `be cut iu the card, this die operatingin connection with a' counter die of corre'- sponding forni or outline in the opposite jaw, as in lother punches of this character'. U .l

Ordinarily, however, tliecard, after having been cut, will be cleared froui the male die by a spring ucting as a stripper, this spring being fastened to the jaw, and bent around ilito the plane of the die-lace,

as seen at cc, in Figure 5, a rubber spring, y, heilig sometimes interposed between the spring 'and jaw to` Such strippers,

Toreined this defective construct-ion I apply to.'

the male die t', a rigid' stripper-plate, 7.', having` no flexibility or elasticity initself, but being 4supported at its outer end against one or more springs I, connected to lthe die-jaw.

The stripper-plate is hinged or jointed at its inner end to, and so as to move with the other jaw, the connection heilig near the joint c, as seen at in.

The connecting-pins,,around which the springs l are wound, should be headed at their lower ends, so that, wliile the stripper can be 'compressed against suoli springs, its normal position will be regulated and determined by these pins, while the action of the spring which opens the handles brings the inner end ofthe stripper iiito normal positioinin which position the acting Surface of the stripper is in a plane with the acting surface of the die.

Now, when a card'is inserted between the die-jaws, and the handles .are brought together, the movement of one jaw toward the other will force the stripper above the die-face alid leave the die free to cut, or free from pressure of the stripper at such face during most of its cutting yaction, the` face of the counter-die jaw only having to force the stripperup at the outer point of the die. y

',lVhen the card is cut, the raction of the springs l 'ment of y the stripper-plate, by reason of the4 plate heilig hinged to the jaw b, as showl'i at on.

To facilitate the cutting action ofthe die,-VI bevel the face thereof, both. laterally and longitudinally, so

that the die commences to c ut at one side and end thereofninstead of equally or simultaneously upoil .both sides, or along its whole cutting-edge.A

The instrument thus nl'ade is foulld to be very enduring,` having no springs, which are very liable` to l `to break, alid having the cutter and stripper so arend of the stripper Jco-force the card from the die, the

end of the stripper being extended up into the joint slot of the instrument, so that the stripper may be moved away from the die-'face as the jaws begin to close; but the specific construction shown is considered preferable.

I cla-iin the combination of the stripperk with the die-jaws, substantially in manner and so as to operate therewith, and with the dies, as specified, the stripper under such a combination having its inner end jointed to the lower jaw, and its other end supported against one or more springs, and provided with stops, as set forth.

I claim the wire f, as made, with the finger-bend or recess g.

I also claim the arrangement and combina-tion of the wire f, and the finger-recess thereof, with the spring h,'and the two jaw-leversa provided with cut- -'rom the die, may etfect the Sallie in a gradual manner from end to end or side to side, or in both ways, ofthe cut made by the die.

LUTHER O. CROCKER.

Witnesses R. H. EDDY, F. P. HALE, Jr. 

